Family Businesses in China und Indien

The importance of internationalization into fast-growing emerging markets such as China and India has grown dramatically in recent decades, also effecting family businesses. China and India are the largest markets in Asia and have shown considerable growth in the past decade. German family businesses have recognized this trend and since then have become increasingly active regarding the internationalization into these markets, not least in order to grow outside the stagnating Western markets.

The new WIFU study, which was developed in cooperation with DEG, shows that German family businesses have made substantial investments in order to build up a strong presence in China and India. Both markets have great potential for growth, especially through government-sponsored investment programs. The prejudice that China and India are mere low-wage countries in which Western companies can produce cost-effectively has long been outdated. On the contrary, German family-owned companies are primarily focused on capturing the local market.

The study is part of a large-scale research project, which is planned for four years and examines various aspects of the internationalization process of family businesses. The aim is to give owners and managers of family businesses important insights into complex strategic internationalization processes.

The complete English study and a German summary are available in the download section.